Aargh, I treat my earphones moderately well, but they all seem to crap out on me within a year. So far, I've had

- KSC 50's, which developed a buzzing sound when playing lows.
- Shure e2c's, which had faulty wiring or something (if the cord moved around, I'd be able to hear sound coming only from the left, then only from the right, etc)
- B&O A8's, which JUST pooped out on me. They were working just a second ago, but then suddenly the right earphone doesn't work.

So, Massassi, if you have experience with any earphones that have worked reliably for you, please speak up! (Edit: Looking for portable, small headphones/earphones.)

I kept reading that as KFC's 50's and BBQ

EDIT: I don't use headphones for the same reason, they keep breaking. But since I can buy them from 25-50 pesos (less than 5 dollars) I really don't care.

It sounds like you just need to treat your headphones better.

The KSC-50s were your best choice sound wise, you should try the KSC-75s.

Darth Beyer's 990DT (New Series) + amp
Grado SR225 + amp
Alessandro MS-1 + amp
Sennheiser HD580 Modded + amp

I'll keep the list going until you filter it down a bit. Price range? Favorite music? Style?

Meanwhile, arn't these sexy?

http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Audio-Technica_ATH-A500_Art_Headphones.html

First pair of real headphones I ever bought. Got them close to 4 years ago and they are still going strong.

For the money, those are good headphones for a closedback. They can do almost what an A900 can do and it still won't make your wallet spit out flies, despite it being only $20 more.

I hear they're good for gaming.

[url]www.bose.com[/url]

...

What?

EDIT: Oh yeah, you need to treat your headphones better. Had my E2c's for like a year and a half and they worked fine for me the entire time--and I didn't treat them immaculately.

haha <3

i dunno. is wrapping the cord around the ipod and stuffing the ipod and earphones both in your back pocket a bad thing (granted that I dont sit on them)? i dont really know how else to store them quickly, especially without it being a hassle to take them out.

anovis, i was actually looking for more "portable" earphones. i actually have grado sr60's, but walking around with them on, and also with the really thick wire, looks goofy. plus, with open-air headphones, everyone can pretty much hear what you are listening to.

I'd stick with your shure e2c's and replace the cord with a better cord. There's some DIY guides at Head-fi.org that tells you how to order a cord for this. Sounds like you got stuck with stock or a faulty one.

It is not recommended you sit, run over, cut, chew, or throw your cord into water. Other than that, you can wrap it around your iPod as you like, shouldn't be a problem.

Edit: You sly ninja editor. I don't understand why everyone's obsessed with keeping their music quiet. Maybe it's because they're listening to bad music and they know it, and don't want anyone to know.

Open-air finds a perfect balance of sound leakage to make the quality extreeeeeemely better.

Seriously, the man asks for earphones and you all give him headphones.



I've got a pair of Sony MDRE829V Earphones and I think they're dandy for the price. Only pair of earphones I've ever had that have last more than a year without crapping out.

Not really since the DT 880 is far superior and all Grados are completely worthless and overpriced pieces of crap.

In other words, Head-Fi is a terrible terrible forum almost entirely filled with pseudoscientific, techno-babbling idiots.

Not entirely. It's just that DT880's are not superior because they deliver awful spikes on highs that the DT990's have improved on. DT 990's also have improved impedance and frequency responses.

Also Grado's are not overpriced and overated. Well some might be, but most arn't.

So in summary, your opinion is wrong, hence:

The "awful spikes on highs" are supposed to be there, it's a result of diffuse field equalization. Headphones are not supposed to have flat responses like speakers.


Like I said, the 880s are more neutral and also are DF equalized. You don't even know what these words mean.


After the SR-60 they are basically the same thing. Their price becomes harder and harder to justify.

What I mean is a one unbelievable high spike that exceedes 30 dBr around 20,000 Hz that the DT 990's cleared up.



It appears after the DT 880 refresh that just happened, it did clear up some and is now on to scale with DT990's and is better in terms of balance. But the DT990's still have awesome responses compared to DT880 midrange and brighter highs.



Personally I would probably buy Alessandro MS Pro over grado's, but again, that's in terms of what I personally like. So what I'm saying is in terms of budget and taste, some prefer Grado's and that's just dandy. The SR225 is popular for its price also, and SR-60's still tend to be a popular choice too.

DT 880's also lack heavily in bass compared to the DT990's. Unless you really enjoy classical or acoustic music, then it's probably not best. It's really a matter of choice, and I don't understand what your obsession with it is about.

...what?



At the cost of sounding like a tin can I suppose.


A 5db difference is "excessive"? The 880s are more neutral, which is their advantage. You can get more bass with simple equalization.


The DT 880's superiority is on a technical, not opinion level. Also proving you wrong.

I still use the earphones that came with my old gameboy brick. Yay.

it just depends on what you are using them for, you can get the nice padded ones like pictured above for airplane flights or desktopping, but for on the go use, i use a pair of sony earphones that clip to the ear. I don't know the model number, will try to find a pic. Never had a problem with them thru 2 years of bus trips, workouts, runs, and computer gaming.

My Sennheisers have lasted me for about 4 years now.

I like my Sennheiser HD280 Pro's, but if I really think about it, it was the lousiest purchase I could get when looking for perfect sound isolation. If I don't want to let somebody hear anything through I'd have to keep the volume at minimum.

Luckily I got Shure e2c's if I want to do that. Like, listen to some random noise with heart beats on a bus or an airplane or whatever.

Both have lasted for 2 years now, except that I had to change my HD280 Pro's cord last year and I think I need new earpieces for my Shure's. They sure as hell didn't make these things with my ears in mind.

I like my Grado RS-1's, but I cannot really justify the price to anyone. The sounds is fine (though a little devoid of bass), but the build quality leaves something to be desired. I feel that is sounds better than my SR-325's and the SR-80's I used to own, but I'm not sure if anyone would agree that they are hundreds of dollars better.

Yeah, I got sick of the silly pseudo-science on head-fi as well, especially in the Cable, Power, and Tweaks forum. It seems as though people are just looking for ways to justify their silly, exorbitant purchases.